Eric's Best Birthday, Ever

In our house, ten is the best birthday, ever.  On Tara's 10th birthday, she got tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.  It was a fun experience for Tara and me.  Eric has been worried for a while that he would have to go to a Taylor Swift concert for his birthday too, or worse a Justin Bieber one. The suspense was killing him and pretty much all the other kids too as they tried to guess what Eric's best birthday ever would be.


The day finally came and he got to open presents and find out what his birthday gift was.

That's Eric holding a ticket.  A ticket that gives him permission to fly in a WWII airplane.

The next weekend Eric went to the Texas Air Museum.

He was able to be the copilot of a 1953 Beechcraft T-34A aircraft.  How awesome is that?
 

He got to fly the plane for a little bit too.  He was happy to inform me that you don't turn an airplane, you tilt it.  And he was able to tilt it right and left before turning the joystick back over to the pilot. He also let me know that he was happy to be on the ground too.  His stomach was feeling a little crazy.  His words not mine.

When he was back on the ground, he was able to help fix another aircraft.  The aircraft was having issues with its landing gear.  They wouldn't go up after take off.

He helped repair the plane by putting the body pieces back on after the mechanics made their adjustments, and then got to watch it make a test flight!  Pretty awesome to see something that you have worked on fly through the air!  His engineering mind was in hog heaven.  Seeing how things work, building stuff, and flying a plane.  Yep, best birthday ever.

He came home happy and tired.